This invention relates to an inflatable, self-supporting cover for the occupant of a bed. More particularly, this invention relates to an inflatable, self-supporting cover suitable for placement over the occupant of a bed and, when desirable, for treating such occupant by controlling the atmosphere beneath the cover.
The cover of this invention is particularly suitable in conjunction with the treatment of patients suffering from disorders or injuries affecting the skin and body heat regulation, as, for example, burn victims and neurological and post-operative patients. In treating such patients it is most desirable to avoid contacting a patient's skin with any type of material.
The skin of a human body functions as a shield by acting as a protective mechanism against temperature changes, providing insulation for external heat, serving as protection against dehydration and acting as a barrier against certain diseases. When a person loses skin, particularly due to burns, that person's body shield is lost, or at least damaged, and he or she faces unique medical problems and complications different from those of a typical injured person. The problems and complications created by burns require extra precautions and special treatment.
When a person is burned, a scale or eschar forms over the burn area and functions as a temporary shield until new skin has a chance to form. To treat a burn patient it is important to keep the eschar dry in order to decrease the probability of infection. It has been learned that warm, dry air circulated over a burn area will aid in the rapid formation of a dry eschar and will enhance evaporation of moisture from the eschar and reduce body heat loss.
In treating burn patients it is very important to minimize heat loss because as a burn patient's temperature drops, the body spends most of its energy generating heat rather than rebuilding damaged tissue and fighting disease. Current therapy options for regulating the body temperature of a burn patient include the use of ice packs or heating pads, as required, directly on the skin. Unfortunately, the direct contact of any object with the skin or eschar increases the possibility of infection.
By virtue of recognized problems associated with certain known procedures and equipment for treating burn patients, as well as for treating those with other medical problems, it has been recognized that there may be advantages in regulating a patient's body temperature and keeping the skin dry through convective procedures. In conjunction with such procedures it is important to closely monitor the temperature in the fluctuating heat environment of a burn patient's body.
Various types of structures have heretofore been available for covering and/or treating the environment surrounding a patient. U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,922 describes apparatus which includes at least one porous bed covering through which air is passed to circulate about the body of a patient beneath such covering. A major drawback of the apparatus is that the bed covering is in contact with the patient's skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,188 describes a self-supporting airflow cover for surrounding at least a portion of a patient's body. The cover comprises a plurality of parallel tubes which extend longitudinally of the patient's body and are interconnected along seams at their edges. Gas from a blower is delivered through a hose to an input port of a keystone tube and passes through transverse ports into all of the other tubes to cause them to inflate and provide the cover with what is stated to be a self-supporting structure having a generally rounded cross-sectional shape. The gas passes from the cover through a plurality of exit ports in the lower portion of all of the tubes to bathe the patient's body. This cover has several objectional features. The gas pressure causes certain tubes to elevate only slightly, if at all, above the patient so that any movement of the patient causes skin contact with the cover, gas circulation to the cover can not be interrupted without having the cover collapse, and the delivery hose must be supported independently above the cover, which interferes with treatment of the patient.
In some hospitals burn patients are shielded by a system of covers suspended from ropes and/or wires so as to be spaced from a patient's body. While such a system provides a cover that does not contact a patient's body, the system is cumbersome and complicates procedures for treating a patient beneath the cover.
Other supported shelters and air covers of a variety of types are well known. Possibly the most visible of such shelters are the air-supported, tent-like structures used for indoor athletic events, such as those that cover tennis courts. The peripheries of these structures are anchored at ground level to maintain an air-tight seal between the bottom of the structure and its base, and the tops or domes are maintained in position by pressurized air supplied by a compressor to the interior of the structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,184 describes such a shelter system comprising an inflatable enclosure sealed along its bottom periphery and a blower for inflation thereof. Such shelters or covers are unsuitable for covering or treating patients.
The inventors of the inflatable self-supporting cover of this invention first considered variations of the above described apparatus and structures, but all of such variations created problems or offered no special benefits for the treatment of the occupant of a bed, such as a hospital patient.